A magazine for the alumni of all University of Tennessee campuses and institutes

Mobile Stroke Unit a Life Saver

Dr. Andrei Alexandrov, left, and Gerald Sandlin smile two days after Sandlin’s life was saved by the staff of the UT Mobile Stroke Unit and physicians at Methodist University Hospital.PHOTO BY ALLEN GILLESPIE/UTHSC

Fast action by the staff of the UT Mobile Stroke Unit and Methodist University Hospital’s Comprehensive Stroke Center saved the life of an Alabama man who had a stroke on a Delta airlines flight bound for Atlanta. The plane made an emergency landing in Memphis, where the Mobile Stroke Unit had been called to the airport, and four days later, 73-year-old Gerald Sandlin left the hospital with no residual effects. Launched in 2016, the $1.1 million, 14-ton stroke center on wheels is equipped with hospital-quality CT-angiography equipment, allowing diagnosis and initial treatment with clot-busting drugs at the scene to improve odds of recovery. Sandlin was taken to Methodist University Hospital, where the clot was successfully removed.

Good Health Includes Good Mental Health

UTHSC is increasing its attention to the mental health and well-being of students with a focus on preventive care and intervention that could be a model for other academic health-science institutions. The initiative adds counseling personnel, improves student access to mental health services and moves student mental

From Old Warehouse to State-of-the-Art

The UTHSC Plough Center for Sterile Drug Delivery Solutions won a 2018 Building Memphis Award from the Memphis Business Journal. The annual awards recognize the best new developments in the city. The university has transformed a former campus warehouse into a state-of-the art facility for the sterile manufacture of pharmaceuticals. The $20 million Plough Center is the only pharmaceutical facility of its kind in Tennessee and one of the few university-owned, contract manufacturing facilities in the United States. It will produce small-batch drugs in injectable and freeze-dried forms for preclinical, Phase 1 and Phase 2 human clinical trials; orphan drugs to treat specific and rare diseases; and innovative drug delivery systems to meet various unmet clinical needs.

Thank You For Not Smoking

On Jan. 1, UTHSC joined more than 1,757 college campuses across the country in becoming smoke-free. The use, advertising, sale or sampling of smoking products is prohibited on the 55-acre Memphis campus. “We believe this decision supports our other efforts to have a healthy environment for our students, faculty and staff,” says Ken Brown, UTHSC executive vice chancellor and chief operations officer.